Karaba, Rwanda is a district in the province of Botare in Southwestern Rwanda, Africa, with whom the people of Elk River, MN have established a special partnership through World Vision. Karaba (pronounced Car-ah’-bah) is a beautiful area of rolling green hills, banana and coffee trees, and small villages. About 100,000 people live in Karaba. It is about the size of an average Minnesota county.

Life in Karaba is a challenge because of poverty, joblessness, and especially HIV/AIDS. Nearly every family in Karaba has lost a loved one to this terrible disease. Many children are orphaned as a result. Families from the Elk River, MN area have been blessed to sponsor 500 such children through Mission, Rwanda.

98% of the people in Karaba survive by subsistence farming. That is, they grow just enough crops to feed their families and maintain a meager existence, but not enough to sell at market to improve their circumstances. World Vision is helping with economic development through micro-enterprise loans and other kinds of assistance.

Education and housing are also improving in Karaba thanks to our Mission Rwanda efforts. Three new elementary schools have been built since 2004 along with more than 70 new homes. Child sponsorship provides for many of these needs.

The people of Karaba are largely Christian. Like all Rwandans, there is a tremendous need for reconciliation following the Genocide of 1994 that resulted in the death of nearly 1,000,000 people in three months of internal fighting. The wounds are deep and yet there is great hope for the future.
 

Mission Rwanda